University of BaltimoreMerrick School of Business
University of Baltimore
Merrick School of Business
| office | BC 473 | v-mail | (410)837-5272 |
| abento@ubalt.edu | URL | http://home.ubalt.edu/abento | |
PCs were introduced over twenty years ago and are now a commodity. PCs are shipped to end users with little, or no, documentation for as little as $300. Most organizations restrict to the minimum what the users can setup in their PCs, for security an maintenance reasons. The rhythm of technology innovation has not slowed, however. Therefore, there is a pressing need to provide high quality PC systems support for end-users. The aim of this course is to provide an advanced foundation in information technology (IT) capable of enabling students to support PC users in selecting, acquiring, customizing, optimizing, maintaining and upgrading their PC hardware and system software.
Excellence in PC systems support cannot be achieved in only one course. Students coming to this course should have basic knowledge of computer concepts and applications, including programming, data base management systems, telecommunications, operating systems, etc. This course will provide state-of-the-art knowledge on PC systems support, and will develop analytical skills, as a foundation for life-long learning on PC systems support, through the use of diagnostic and troubleshooting tools and techniques.
Learning teamwork is an integral part of the course. No IT professional works all by him/ herself. On the contrary, she/he works constantly interfacing with users and other IT professionals. In this course, all assignments, but the mid-term and final exams, are to be done in groups of 4 to 5 students. The ability to communicate verbally and orally is also a must for an IT professional. The groups will write reports and make presentations on topics not covered by the lectures. Group discussions should be documented in the SAKAI group Forum.
Understanding professional and ethical standards in PC systems support is a key component of the course. It is estimated that the software industry loses more than twenty billion dollars a year because of software "piracy" -- unauthorized copies of software. Since the Fall of 1992, violating copyright law is a felony (criminal justice case), not simply a civil justice case. An IT professional, specially working in PC systems support, should know and guarantee that business organizations, end-users and her/himself follow copyright laws, and stand for the highest levels of professionalism in the use of IT.
Specifically the course aims to enable each student to have the ability to:
The PCs studied in this course are based on Intel and AMD
processors. The operating systems studied in this course are Windows 7,
and Linux. This is neither an endorsement or recommendation of these products. Other processors (ARM)
and operating systems (Android and iOS) will also be discussed in this course.
Class handouts will be available on the Web at the following address of the course syllabus: http://home.ubalt.edu/abento/315. The course syllabus will be linked to the class materials. You can see and print the class materials at the UB Labs, your office or home using a Web browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome or similar).
| Projects (4) | 20% |
| Special topics papers (6) | 24% |
| Presentation(1) | 6% |
| Mid-term Exam | 20% |
| Final Exam | 30% |
The projects, special topics, and the presentation are to be done in group (4 to 5 students). I created seven groups in SAKAI, please reply to the group you want to join with the subject "yourname joins group y." If a group already has 4 students join another group, if all groups have 4 students, select one to complete 5 in the group.
Each group will do a PowerPoint presentation on a special topic. See the list of projects and special topics to send me a list of your top three preferences to do the presentation in class with PowerPoint slides. All groups will post a special topic or project report on the Web space of the group reporter (a group member chosen by the group).
Your grade on projects and special topics will depend upon the content, structure of the documentation, and the degree of professionalism demonstrated on its Web page report. Only one group will present in class a special topic using PowerPoint. The ability of each group to present orally in class the materials prepared using Power Point slides will be worth 6% of the final grade. Each group will only do one presentation and post it in the Presentation item of the ASSIGNMENTS are of SAKAI. All groups will do all projects and special topics, and post an URL (Web page address) of their report in the ASSIGNMENTS area of SAKAI corresponding to the project or special topic.
project 1. PC diagnostic: use a software diagnostic package (free or demo version found on the Web) to identify characteristics and potential problems of three PCs. Due 02/14.
project 2. PC upgrade vs buy: prepare a detailed specification and performance of of three PCs and evaluate if they should be upgraded or replaced. Due 02/28
project 3. Treasure hunting in Windows 7: customize Windows 7. Due 04/10.
project 4. Treasure hunting in Linux: Customize Ubuntu Linux. Due 05/01.
topic 1. VGA vs HDMI vs DLNA connections: compare analog with digital connections. Web page report due 02/21 (all groups). Presentation 1 on February 15 (just one group).
topic 2. Digital Video and FireWire: capturing images with cellular phones, digital cameras, importing to PCs, editing video sequences. Web page report due 03/06 (all groups). Presentation 2 on February 29 (just one group).
topic 3. iPhone vs Android Phones: main differences in price, features, support, etc. This should be a "non-partisan" study, with pros and cons of both. Web page report due 03/14 (all groups). Presentation 3 on March 7 (just one group).
topic 4. Ultrabooks vs Tablets: main differences in price, features, support, etc. This should be a "non-partisan" study, with pros and cons of both. Web page report due 04/03 (all groups). Presentation 4 on March 28 (just one group).
topic 5. Peer-to-peer network: covering both LAN concepts, and Web sharing concepts. Web page report due 04/24 (all groups). Presentation 5 on April 18 (just one group).
topic 6. Windows 8 preview: a summary description of main features of Windows 8 and main differences from Windows 7. Web page report due 05/08 (all groups). Presentation 6 on May 2nd (two groups).
The mid-term exam will be an on-line multiple choice exam covering all topics discussed up to March 7, including special topics 1 to 3. The exam opens March 14 and your individual answers are due March 17 in SAKAI. You can only submit your exam once, but there is no limit of time for you to take the exam, save it (not post) as you go along. Each student will see a different random sequence of the same twenty questions in the exam, so that question 1 for one student may be question 13 for another, and so on.
The final exam will be an in class, open book, multiple choice exam covering all topics discussed after March 7, including the special topics 4 to 6. You can only submit your exam once. You will have two hours to take the exam, save it (not post) as you go along. Each student will see a different random sequence of the same twenty questions in the exam, so that question 1 for one student may be question 13 for another, and so on.
Required:
On reserve:
| OUTLINE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Topics | Assignments | |
| 01/25 | Course overview. Review of using PowerPoint up 2003 and for PowerPoint 2007. References: (a) Office tutorials for the Macs, and (b) PowerPoint for PCs by Act360 both for PowerPoint 97-2003 and 2007. | Introduce yourself (due 01/29) and group selection (due 02/01) in SAKAI | |
| 02/01 | Motherboard, CPU and memory (2,3,4,5,6). ARM Processors. RISC vs CISC in postPC era. | Project 1, due 02/14 | |
| 02/08 | How to create a Web page, your UB Web space and using Kompozer remotely. Laptop required. | Finish working in Project 1, due 02/14 | |
| 02/15 | Video display, cards, memory (12) Apple TV vs Google TV | Project 2, due 02/28
VGA vs HDMI vs DLNA connections (presentation 1 by Group 4) | |
| 02/22 | I/O interfaces, hard drives (7,9) and CDROM and DVD, sound boards (11,13) | Finish working in Project 2, due 02/28 | |
| 02/29 | Scanners, flash drives, digital cameras, solid-state drives (10,14) | Digital Video, USB 3 and FireWire (presentation 2 by Group 3) | |
| 03/07 | Tablets and smartphones and Mobile tutorials | iPhone vs Android Phones (presentation 3 by Group 5) | |
| 03/14 | Laptops and Ultrabooks | Mid-term on-line exam due 03/17 | |
| 03/21 | Spring Break | Spring Break | |
| 03/28 | Windows 7 overview, Lab information, and overview of Project 3. Laptop required. | Project 3 due 04/10
Ultrabooks vs Tablets (presentation 4 by Group 6) | |
| 04/04 | Hypervisors: VirtualBox and VMware and Networking concepts and hardware (17) | Finish working in Project 3, due 04/10 | |
| 04/11 | Linux overview, Lab information, and overview of Project 4. Meets in MISLab. | Project 4 due 05/01 | |
| 04/18 | iOS and Android | Peer-to-peer network (presentation 5 by Group 7) | |
| 04/25 | Ethical aspects and copyright law | Finish working in Project 4, due 05/01 | |
| 05/02 | Final exam review | Windows 8 preview (presentation 6, by Groups 1 and 2) | |
| 05/09 | Final exam | Final exam | |
This page is maintained by Al Bento who can be reached at abento@ubalt.edu. This page was last updated on February 4, 2012. Although we will attempt to keep this information accurate, we can not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided.